Hanyou Children
by CinderCiela
Summary: Modern AU, based off of the movie 'Wolf Children'. Izayoi falls in love with Touga, the last of the Inuyokai, and when he dies, she's left alone to care for their Hanyou children, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. But how exactly does one take care of a Hanyou child, without letting the world know that Inuyokai exist?
1. Prologue

**This is based off of the movie _Wolf Children_ , so the roles will be a little mixed up. Both Sesshomaru _and_ Inuyasha are Hanyous, Izayoi's children, and they both can transform into a huge dog. The movie also has a lot of scenes without dialogue, so if I don't want to whiz through this in all of two chapters, there will obviously be some differences.**

 **Also, _hanyou_ means half-demon, and _inuyokai_ means dog-demon.**

 **Now that that's out of the way, please enjoy the Prologue of _Hanyou Children_.**

* * *

He was _different_.

From the moment Izayoi laid eyes on him, she was sure of it. It wasn't just his off-white hair, or his honey eyes, or the strange markings on his skin. His whole personality was different from everything she had ever known. He was so gruff on the outside, but kind on the inside. He sort of reminded her of the tsunderes from the anime she used to watch, heh.

She would never forget the day she met him. Every time the memory played itself in her mind, it was like new. _He_ was like new. And she could feel her love for him surfacing again...

Oh, but let me tell you, this is not a love story. This is a story about a mother, Izayoi, and her life with her two half-demon sons.

* * *

It seemed to be an ordinary day at college, at first. Until she noticed a strange man she had never seen before taking notes at the front of the classroom. He looked so out of place, what with his extraordinary looks and diligent studying, even without a textbook. And he seemed to appear out of nowhere, too. Izayoi _knew_ that if he'd been at the college the whole time, she would've seen him. As the class wore on, she couldn't take her eyes off of him.

After the class, she saw him pick up his notebooks, pens, and then leave through the fire exit. He was so unusual, she couldn't just let him walk away like that! She followed him out of the school, off of the campus, and to wherever he was going until she decided to speak up.

"Wait!" She called, making him turn around. His honey golden eyes made her feel like she was melting, and she had to come up with something to say, fast. "Um... Ya know, that class you were in is pretty hard without a textbook, so I was thinking," She held up her own book. "maybe we could share mine?"

He starred at her a moment, then two, then turned to walk away without saying anything. Izayoi stood there, defeated. He was the oddest person she'd ever seen, and she wanted to know more about him. It was stupid, but she thought that maybe if he said yes, then they could become friends and get to know each other. But she decided that she wouldn't give up. She would get to know him, even if it killed her.

The next day at the college, he actually _did_ end up sitting next to Izayoi, and sharring her textbook. They didn't talk much, but Izayoi lurned that he was called Inu no Taisho, and that he lived alone, and that he hated squid-ink-spaghetti. Izayoi began to follow Touga around the school, determined to become his friend. As the days grew on, she learned more and more about him. Eventually they ended up spending time outside of school, and would end up walking together, just the two of them, sharing idle chitchat and questioning each other.

"So, why were you named Inu no Taisho? It's kinda long." Izayoi asked sweetly as they walked in the evening.

"Curious, aren't you?" Was his response. "That's actually not my real name. It's my father's title, and I was the next in line to take it. My real name is Touga."

Izayoi beamed. "Touga... I like it!"

Touga's eyes widened. "You do?"

"Yup! I think I'll call you that from now on!"

Touga smiled sheepishly. "Well, you'd be the first..."

As Time wore on, the became more than friends. They'd go on dates, and kiss, and do other things that couples did. But after a while, Izayoi could tell something was holding Touga back. Something was eating a him on the inside. She had no idea what, and she couldn't tell if he had any plans on ever telling her. _Maybe he's got a a secret_ , she wondered. On night, however, Touga told her to meet him at the park, and make sure no one else was there.

"There's something I have to tell you." He stated. Izayoi shivered. Conversations that started like that never went well.

Izayoi, afraid that she might choke if she said anything, simply nodded her head in response.

"Well, I suppose it would be better to show you. Close you eyes."

Trusting her lover completely, Izayoi did as she was told.

After several moments, however, her eyes needed to breathe. "No peeking." Breath taken, she followed his orders.

She waited and waited, and she eventually heard strange noises on the other side of her eyelids. She had to admit, she was scared. What on Earth was he doing? Just when she thought he might've left her alone in a cruel form of breaking up, she heard him say, "Open your eyes."

When she did so, there were at first no words to describe what she saw. When her eyes and then her brain finished processing what stood before her, she realized it was an enormously large, powerful dog. It bore markings on it's face like Touga did, and something inside her told her that this creature was her lover.

"What do you see? I'm a monster, aren't I?" The dog asked, with Touga's voice. Izayoi was speechless. When she finally thought that she'd be able to respond, she opened her mouth. Her tongue was sandpaper dry.

That night, she learned that Inu no Taisho was the title of an Inuyokai. That Touga was the last surviving Inuyokai, born of two purebred parents, who died during his childhood. He was the last purebred that could be born, and therefore the last one to carry the Inu no Taisho title. If he were to mate with her like he wanted, then their children would be Hanyous: half human, half Inuyokai. His parents taught him not to mate, because there were no more surviving Yokai that could care for them. Hanyous would be forced into the human population, or would become animals.

But Izayoi knew that he wasn't a monster. She loved him, and he loved her. So that night, they mated.

The following day, Izayoi woke up with sickness. While Touga was out at work, she took herself to her doctor's office, and found out that the night's activities created a little life inside of her. Later that day, when she saw Touga, they celebrated. It didn't matter to either of them that their child would be a Hanyou. They'd love it just the same.

For nine months, Touga took care of her. She was his flower; a beautiful lily that needed water, food, care, and love. He made her dinner, and comforted her when she got sick. They never risked any doctor's appointments, however. How could they explain if the ultrasound shown a pup inside of Izayoi's belly? And when they child was birthed, it was just the two of them, bringing the Hanyou into the world as snow fell outside.

The child very much resembled Touga, what with his inhuman markings on his skin and pointed elf-like ears. His hair was long, down to his shoulders even as a newborn, and it was shiny silver. He had a long, cream colored tail that Izayoi wrapped around him to keep him warm.

"What's his name?" Izayoi asked as she breastfed the surprisingly calm little boy.

"Sesshomaru."

Izayoi gave Touga a funny glance. "That's certainly... unique."

Touga chuckled. "He's different from everyone else. He can be _whatever_ he wants to be when he grows up. Be it human, or yokai..."

Izayoi smiled, and warmly nuzzled her firstborn son.

Shortly after Sesshomaru's birth, Izayoi was pregnant once again. The following spring, the baby was about ready to be born. Touga and Izayoi were excited. Their journey through parenthood was getting started. But the day of the baby's birth, Touga had gone out. Izayoi was alone with the child, and the day wore on. He didn't come home. Izayoi brought Sesshomaru and the new baby, another boy, this one donning pure white hair with little white dog ears topping off his head, with her to search for Touga.

It was raining, and Touga wasn't at his job. Or any other public facility that Izayoi figured he might've gone to. She was about to give up hope as she walked solitarily on a bridge, when she saw it. Floating in the man-made river below her, was the drowned body of a huge, white dog. Men in raincoats and tall rubber boots came out of a trash truck, and went down into the river, bagging up the body and throwing it into the truck, which would drive off to dump the body in a landfill somewhere.

Realization hit Izayoi square in the chest, like a bullet to the heart. _Her lover's dead body would be dumped in some landfill somewhere._

Without thinking, Izayoi ran up to the truck, screaming nonsense at the men as raindrops and salty tears and snot ran down her face. The men ignored her, and she collapsed on her knees, both she and her babies crying. A kind someone walked over to her, holding an umbrella over her head and she screamed out in pain.

That night, Izayoi had a dream. It was the first one she'd had in awhile.

 _She was walking in a meadow, wearing her favorite blue dress. It was sunny and warm. She turned, and saw a figure. A figure with an off-white ponytail hanging down his back._

 _"Touga!" She cried._

 _He flashed her a warm smile, then turned to walk away, transforming into his Inuyokai form as he did so._

 _"Wait!" Izayoi called out, but he didn't stop walking away from her. She began to feel rather hopeless,_ _until he spoke._

 _"Take good care of our children."_

Izayoi woke up the next morning, her face stained with tears she must've shed in her sleep. She glanced around the room, and at the two white-haired little boys that lay sleeping peacefully and unaware of her pain.

"I will." She spoke, her voice thick with determination.


	2. Chapter 1

For poor Izayoi, both boys were a handful, what with Inuyasha's transforming in public and his puppy-like traits of chewing on shoes and peeing on the carpet. Sesshomaru, who inherited less of the inu and more of the Yokai, had green acidic goo that would drip from his claws and get everywhere and on the off occasion, a green whip that could easily tear up Izayoi's poor furniture.

"Inuyasha, stop it! No, don't go bathroom there, Sesshomaru!" Izayoi, who was already preoccupied with the busy task of preparing dinner, wailed as her two sons wreaked some more havoc on her unfortunate apartment.

Inuyasha, far too hellbent on devouring a colorful toe sock he fished out of the clothes bin, had no intention of 'stopping it'. Where Sesshomaru had once sat, there was now a small puddle that Izayoi would have to be weary of if she didn't want to slip and fall. She currently couldn't go stop her youngest from swallowing the sock or go clean up her oldest's mess, for fear of pasta water boiling over.

Groaning, poor Izayoi turned away from the disaster that was once her living room, and turned off the stove. She heaved the heavy pot of ramen over to the sink, then grabbed a dishcloth and wiped the sweat from her already too wrinkled forehead.

"Mother, I'm hungry."

Pivoting on her heal and almost falling over in the process, Izayoi turned to see a two-year-old Sesshomaru starring into her soul. He rubbed his stomach and whimpered. Oh yes, they hadn't had lunch. Or breakfast, or even dinner the previous night. In fact, their last meal had been about a day and a half ago. Izayoi had no time for a job; all her time had been spent taking care of her Hanyous, and the same went for her savings. Just that afternoon she decided to guiltily use up some of Touga's old money, not having any that she had earned as of late.

"I'm sorry Sessho-chan, but dinner isn't quite done yet. Can you wait a little longer for me?" Izayoi told Sesshomaru, a pleading smile gracing her face.

But the little boy had enough waiting over the course of a day and a half. "But I'm huuuuuuuungryyyyyyyyy!"

Inuyasha, spitting out the remains of the sock that he couldn't get all the way down his throat, joined in on the whining. "Food, now! Food, now!" He chanted.

Deciding that she couldn't listen to that while she made broth for the ramen, Izayoi caved in and slopped the noodles onto plates in large helpings, not wanting to hear 'Food, now!' again for a long time now. As she ate her own meal though, the idea of just how exhausted she truly was hit her like a bullet. Not wanting to starve, however, she tried eating her noodles, eventually nodding off to sleep in the process.

Both little boys turned their heads to their mother, waiting for her to wake up. They waited one minute, then two... when she still hadn't woken up, they joined in a chorus of shouting.

"Mama!"

"Mother!"

Izayoi awoke, then smiled at the Hanyous. "Yes, boys?"

Neither of them responded, and they went back to their meal. Izayoi, still hungry as ever, finished her ramen, then cleaned up the kitchen once Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were finished. As she cleaned the two little boys ran to the separate room they shared with their mother, and began _howling_.

"Oh, no!" Izayoi panicked as she ran into the other room, forgetting to turn the sink off. "Shhhh!" She shushed the boys worriedly. They obeyed, and she told them to get their pajamas on and get ready to sleep.

The next morning, Izayoi got an unwelcome visit from the landlady, thanks to Sesshomaru and Inuyasha's howling.

"You know I don't allow pets in this building. We've been through this before." The landlady hissed, scarring the two Hanyous, who were hiding behind their mother's legs.

"I swear to you, I don't have any." Izayoi honestly said, hanging her head low. But they landlady merely scoffed.

"I wasn't born yesterday, young lady. I've heard the howling. Now, you either get rid of them or find somewhere else to live." The landlady snarled, and with a pivot on her heel and the slam of the door, she was off.

Izayoi sighed in defeat, then turned to the boys. "I told you, no howling!"

Seeing their mother's frustration, the brothers looked into each other's eyes and then at their mother, and nodded their heads obediently. They watched as Izayoi made her way over to the bathroom, and pinned up her messy black hair. As soon as she was done, she turned to the boys with a fresh smile on her face, and said, "Now, who wants to go for a walk?"

"Me, me, me, me!" Inuyasha barked excitedly.

Sesshomaru groaned. "Can we take the stroller?"

Izayoi chuckled at her oldest; he was ever the timid one! "Of course, dear." She ruffled Sesshomaru's hair, and he smiled at her.

After thoroughly concealing both boys' dog-like features - a hat for Inuyasha's ears and an extra-long coat to cover Sesshomaru's tail - they set out for the park. It was a nice, relatively warm day for mid-September. The leaves were the color of orange sherbet, and the grass was dry and coarse. Izayoi held onto Inuyasha's hand as they walked, while he used his other hand to pick up leaves and add them to his 'collection': a growing pile of rocks, leaves, and Kami-knows-what-else in his coat pocket. Sesshomaru was strapped into his stroller; he wasn't fond of walking. The older boy was sleepy, and was busying himself trying to stay awake.

"Hey, cute kids you've got there!" A friendly man walking his dog told Izayoi. She beamed.

"Hear that, Inuyasha? He thinks you're cute!" Inuyasha smiled, that is, until the man's dog started backing at him.

Inuyasha immediately got down on all fours and started barking back, his hood falling off and ears popping out in the process.

"Hey, Inu - ack!" Sesshomaru yelled at his brother, only to have a green whip sprout from his claws and lash out at the unsuspecting dog.

Izayoi's eyes grew as wide as saucers as she flipped the shade of the stroller over Sesshomaru and scooped up Inuyasha to carry. She ran out of the park as fast as her legs could carry her, Sesshomaru's long green whip trailing behind them.

Once Izayoi made it back to the apartment, she started on dinner, which consisted of plain white rice with sauce. Cooking always helped with her nerves. The boys played with Legos in their room, and all was calm, until someone showed up pounding on the door.

"Open up!"

It was a woman's voice, a rather _angry_ woman. Izayoi turned off the rice cooker and ran to the door. There was a man and a woman standing outside, and they explained their reasons for coming.

"Child Protective Services...?" Izayoi was so confused, and she had to use her body as a shield so the woman couldn't try and peer through the door and watch Sesshomaru and Inuyasha.

"You have two children, Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, correct?" The man asked, before the woman snarled in Izayoi's face. "It is my understanding that neither of them have ever once been to a doctor's appointment. Care to explain?"

"Th-they're fine..." Izayoi said, trying to shut the door, only to have the woman try and pry it back open.

"Then can we come inside and see?" The man asked kindly. So, this was like goodcop badcop, huh?

"No, just..."

"If we can't check on the children then we'll have no choice but to assume neglect!" The woman hissed, but Izayoi slammed the door in her face.

"Just leave us alone!" Izayoi shouted.

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru starred.

The next day, it was cold out. Izayoi took the boys to an empty field where they could play together and not be seen. Izayoi sat on a bench. There was a lot for her to think about. As her mind stewed over things, she watched the two boys, transformed and wrastling, smiles evident on their dog faces. They looked so happy when they weren't trying to be people. She didn't want them to be miserable forever, being forced against their will to be humans. So she decided what she would do.

"Hey, come here!" She shouted at the boys, who came racing towards her. "If you had to choose, would you rather be dogs, or people?"

That seemed to stump the boys. They cocked their heads to the side in confusion.

"I want you to have that choice." Izayoi said, more to herself than the boys.

Sesshomaru walked up to her. "What do you mean, mother?"

Izayoi smiled at her oldest. "I mean, maybe we should move somewhere different."

Sesshomaru looked behind them, at Inuyasha. Once Inuyasha's face lit up with a smile, Sesshomaru turned back to Izayoi with his own smile. They nodded their heads.

So it was decided, then. Izayoi would need to use up the rest of her savings, and start house hunting.


End file.
